I just retuned to Israel from the United States, cutting my trip short because of the urgency of recent events. I came back to find that the ripples of shock at the Labor government’s willingness to gamble Israel’s future have yet to subside. I saw this effect within the Jewish community in America as well, as I met with concerned, caring people who cannot absorb the fact that only a few weeks ago, Prime Minister Rabin was firm in his position against direct dialogue with the PLO and against a Palestinian state. Today, he is not only ready to recognize Arafat and the PLO, but to provide them with ingredients for a Palestinian state within the borders of Israel.

The Peace Now movement is celebrating the “Gaza & Jericho First” agreement and attempting to persuade us to “give peace a chance”. It reminds me of the “peace agreement” Chamberlain brought home to Britain. Then, too, those who thought they had a monopoly on wanting peace celebrated. We, however, remember the results of that agreement only too clearly.

This agreement is a keg of dynamite, albeit with a long fuse, that threatens the very existence of the one and only Jewish homeland. Israel’s Chief of Staff and IDF commanders have publicly acknowledged the dangers inherent in the planned agreement. The reasons are plentiful.

The first step the PLO administration will take – as they say so clearly themselves – is to apply the Law of Return to Palestinian Arabs throughout the world. They will bring in 800,000 more Arabs into our country, Arabs who do not want Ariel or Elkana, Maale Adumim or Ephrat – for cities in Judea and Samaria did not exist prior to 1967. They want to return to Jaffa, to Acre, to Lod, to Jerusalem. And the Labor party is about to agree that Gaza and Jericho are only the first step.

The government of Israel is, in essence, establishing a Palestinian State, a state with its capital in Jerusalem. There will be, in the first phase, an influx of 800,000 Arabs to this state and they will be followed by hundreds of thousands more. The Israeli left claimed that dealing with 1.7 million Arabs in Judea, Samaria and Gaza created an untenable situation, but now these numbers will double … or worse.

This government’s so-called autonomy plan grants our enemies jurisdiction on Eretz Israel. This concession of jurisdiction is irreversible and can only result in a Palestinian State.

Moreover, in providing for Palestinian self-government, Israel is agreeing to the establishment of a PLO army. Faisel Al Husseini, the head of the Palestinian negotiating team, has announced that the new autonomous state – beginning in Gaza and Jericho – will require 30,000 armed Palestinian police for this “peace”. And 15,000 of these enforcers will be brought in from outside Israel; that is, 15,000 terrorists who served in liberation army of the PLO will come here, exchange their camouflage uniforms for police uniforms and become the official Palestinian security forces.

The Palestinian Arabs are being handed a state on a silver platter. But what will Israel gain from this agreement? Can the Israeli government guarantee there will be no more missiles from Iraq or Iran or Libya? From now on, whenever a Jew, either in Israel or abroad, is murdered, will the government place the blame on Islamic Fundamentalists? Will this agreement prevent such terrorism as the bombing of the World Trade Center in New York? And if we discover that, despite the agreement, attacks on Israel continue, will the US send troops to defend Israel? Would the American public allow it? These questions have not been answered but the Israeli government rushes ahead.

This is the power of weakness. For it is weakness that is bringing about this agreement. Faced with a faltering coalition and forced to lean on Arab and extreme left-wing parties, torn by continuous unfavorable supreme court decisions on its unethical mode of governing and weakened by economic failures caused by Labor’s continual investment in the socialist institutions that forms its base of support, the government desperately needs an achievement to flaunt before a disappointed Israeli public.

Arafat, deprived of Kuwaiti and Saudi funding because he sided with Saddam Hussein during the Gulf War, now heads a bankrupt PLO. Frightened by continuous threats to his leadership, Arafat is grasping at straws to maintain his role as leader and representative of the Palestinian Arabs. And so, both Rabin and Arafat flash the promise of peace.

The signing of this agreement could bring disaster, first to the people of Judea and Samaria and then to all of Israel. We need your support – moral, political and financial – as never before. All we have accomplished until today has been for the future generations, your children and ours, for our destiny is intertwined. We must continue this work. The people of Judea and Samaria are strong. We have the determination, the will and the strength to withstand these difficult times. But we need your help. Stand with us. together, with your support and friendship, we will build a strong and secure Israel for all of us.

My best wishes to you, your family and friends and to all of Israel for a happy and healthy New Year.